1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly and a display device having the backlight assembly. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backlight assembly capable of preventing liquid crystal from being deteriorated by heat generated by a light source, and a display device having the backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a liquid crystal display (“LCD”) device has many merits such as lightweight structure, thin thickness, low driving voltage, wide range of color displaying, high resolution, etc. As a result, the LCD device is used in various fields. For example, the LCD device may be employed by a desk top computer system, a lap-top computer, a personal digital assistant (“PDA”), a mobile phone, a television set, audio system, video system, etc. The LCD device displays an image by controlling an optical transmittance of liquid crystal within an LCD panel in response to a signal applied to switching devices arranged in a matrix shape in the LCD panel.
The LCD panel of the LCD device is not self-emissive, thus the LCD device employs a backlight assembly. The backlight assembly of the LCD device may be classified into an edge-illumination type and a direct-illumination type according to a position of a light source.
According to the edge-illumination type backlight assembly, a light source is disposed adjacent to a light guide plate disposed under the LCD panel. Light generated by the light source enters the light guide plate through a side face of the light guide plate and exits the light guide plate to advance toward the LCD panel. The edge-illumination type backlight assembly has relatively higher luminance uniformity, longer lifespan, and smaller thickness than the direct-illumination type backlight assembly. In general, the edge-illumination type backlight assembly is employed by small-sized and mid-sized LCD devices. In the direct-illumination type LCD device, a plurality of light sources is disposed under the LCD panel so that light generated by the light source directly advances toward the LCD panel. The direct-illumination type LCD panel has relatively high luminance. In general, the direct-illumination type LCD device is employed by large-sized or mid-sized LCD devices.
A conventional backlight assembly employs a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (“CCFL”) as the light source. Recently, a light emitting diode (“LED”) for use as the light source in a backlight assembly has been considered because of characteristics of the LED such as relatively longer lifespan, lower power consumption, lighter weight, smaller thickness, etc. as compared to the CCFL. However, the LED generates a greater amount of heat than the CCFL, thus warming up the backlight assembly. Therefore, a reliability of electronic circuits is decreased. Furthermore, thermal stress may occur in elements or a case of the backlight assembly to deform the elements and the case.